I could not make this story up. A friend of mine who is a professional bookbinder and knifemaker collects old strops. He noticed a few years ago that all his best strops were stamped "Genuine Horse Butt," but he didn’t know why. But he figured if someone went to that much trouble to make a strop out of special leather and stamp it, it must be worth the effort. So, after many hassles, he located a supply of horse butt and cut it into strops.

We were all suitably impressed with the results. Horse butt is the hardest, toughest leather we have ever seen. But it still retains the basic characteristic of a great strop. The best part is that the stuff is so dense, it won’t easily groove if you are stropping narrow carving tools. So we decided to offer them for sale. I apologize for the price, but the leather is expensive, the volume is low, and this is top-notch double-sided vegetable tanned leather. I think it’s worth it, especially for carvers.

The material is too thick (3 /32" - 1/8" ) to bend into slips but the edges work great. One side of the strop is smooth - I use it plain - and the other side is a little rougher, which is perfect for holding and catching honing compound.